US to reject agreement on germ warfare

THE United States is poised to re-ignite European fears of American isolationism by rejecting a draft agreement prohibiting biological weapons despite Tony Blair's strong support for the deal.

President Bush has yet to make a final decision on the 210-page Geneva protocol, which is designed to enforce the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and took six years to negotiate. But Gen Colin Powell, US Secretary of State, and other senior Bush administration figures have supported the conclusions of a confidential US review of the protocol that is stingingly critical.

The White House is almost certain to follow suit. Without US backing, the protocol would be meaningless. Supporters of it concede that it is not perfect but they argue that it would at least deter countries from violating the 1972 convention and increase the chances of verification.

British officials have accepted that Mr Bush will not sign up to the protocol by the November deadline and are concentrating their efforts on persuading him to back a new round of negotiations to address American concerns. President Clinton was an enthusiastic advocate of the protocol, saying it would limit the spread of biological weapons.

According to the New York Times, the Bush administration believes that the protocol is ineffective. "The review says that the protocol would not be of much value in catching potential proliferators," an American official told the newspaper.

There is also concern in Washington that the protocol could leave American pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, some of which were among Mr Bush's biggest campaign contributors, vulnerable to industrial espionage. The review found 38 problems with the protocol and concluded that it would compel the United States to open itself up to inspections while allowing other countries to dodge them.

A flat rejection of the protocol by the US could seriously damage relations with Britain. At their Camp David meeting in February, Mr Blair persuaded Mr Bush to support strengthening of "missile proliferation controls and counter-proliferation measures".

Britain and other US allies have been dismayed by Mr Bush's concentration on missile defence and other new military programmes, his eagerness to reduce US troop levels around the world and his scepticism of the value of international treaties.

"The United Kingdom has worked very hard to put in place a new verification and inspection scheme," the spokesman said. About a dozen countries, including Libya, North Korea, Iraq and Iran, have biological weapons programmes even though most were among the 143 nations to ratify the 1972 convention.

President George Bush Snr was among the world leaders who initiated the talks that ended with the Geneva protocol. Tibor Toth, the Hungarian diplomat who led the protocol negotiations, is due to visit Washington this week to attempt to persuade Mr Bush to back the deal. He said it was still possible to address American objections before November.

"If it still needs to be fixed, we have the time," he said. "Barriers have been raised to nuclear and chemical proliferation. "If the world community fails to agree on a protocol to strengthen the ban on biological weapons after six years of talks, it will send a very unfortunate message."

The protocol envisages the establishment of an executive council that would investigate a suspicious plant within 108 hours if a majority was in favour. US sources said that Mr Bush was unlikely to reject the protocol without advocating fresh attempts to make the 1972 convention effective.

"The reaction to Kyoto has made us more careful about consulting with our allies and proposing viable alternatives to flawed treaties," said one official. "But we are not about to sign up to agreements that are not in the interests of the American people and will not work."